SAN ANTONIO — It can be argued that the reclamation project Melvin Hunt was given at the beginning of March did not hold the glamour that similar positions in the league carried with them.
But Hunt is far removed from the days when he was on the bench at Temple High School for one short year in central Texas.
Before landing in Denver five years ago as an assistant and now serving as the team’s interim head coach, Hunt’s early career took him across Texas, a place he spoke fondly of before Friday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.
“It was a great time for me,” Hunt said. “When I look around this place, it just brings back all kinds of memories, from my college days to early coaching.”
Before Hunt joined the Houston Rockets’ staff as a video coordinator, he was an assistant at Incarnate Word, a small university in San Antonio. Before that, the former three-year starter at Baylor was an assistant at the small Texas high school, one of the years Hunt said he’s enjoyed the most in his career.
Offense looks improved. On paper, the night the Nuggets had in Utah during a 107-91 loss to the Jazz on Wednesday wasn’t fantastic.
The team shot 7-of-33 behind the 3-point line, but point guard Ty Lawson said the team was pleased with the looks at the basket, a sign of steady improvement and the players knowing where to look for their shots on the court.
“When you go back and look at the tape, the shots were wide open,” Lawson said. “We were just off that night. We were getting all the looks we wanted. We just weren’t knocking them down.”
Arthur out again. Denver forward Darrell Arthur missed his fifth consecutive game because of a strained right calf.
He last played at Orlando on March 22 but only logged six minutes. He’s averaging 17 minutes and 6.6 points a game this season.
